08.05.2012
By Simon Miller
European markets have opened down this morning despite a rally yesterday following the elections in Greece and France.
Although European markets were down yesterday, they rallied in the afternoon with the Euro Stoxx closing at 2248.34 and the CAC 40 closing 3214.22.
Markets had fallen over fears to the European fiscal pact following the election of Francois Hollande as French president and the rise of far right and far left groups in the Greek elections before recovering.
However, with the FTSE opening after the bank holiday, stocks have fallen this morning with the FTSE 100 down 10.11 at 5,644.95 and the CAC 40 down 1.40% at 3,169.38 while the Euro Stoxx 40 is down 18.17 at 2,264.92 (09.33 BST).
The election of Hollande raises fears that he will push for a renegotiating of the fiscal pact and German chancellor Angela Merkel is due to meet him after his inauguration next week.
In addition, there are fears that Greece will exit the euro after a backlash over austerity measures and an initial failure to form a coalition government.
On Monday, Spanish prime minister Marian Rajoy indicated that the government could intervene to rescue banks struggling with the collapse of the housing market with the country's fourth largest bank Bankia being first in line for aid.
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